30 greek restaurants worth the trip across Greece, editor-ranked. All cuisines in Greece.
Diporto ★ 4.8 · Athens
psyrri · Sokratous 9, Athina 105 52
Diporto on Sokratous and Theatrou has poured Attic retsina from barrels since 1887, a basement koutouki in Athens with no sign and a handful.
Tip: Lunch only from late morning until the pans empty, often by 17:00; no menu, no English spoken.
Peskesi ★ 4.8 · Heraklion
Old Town · Kapetan Charalampi 6-8, Iraklio 712 02
Peskesi cooks Cretan recipes from its own farm at Haraso inside a restored stone mansion in central Heraklion. Book ahead, the room fills nightly.
Tip: Ask for the olive oil tasting. The kitchen is supplied by its own farm at Haraso, and the oils are poured alongside rusk.
Peskesi ★ 4.8 · Heraklion
Old Town · Kapetan Charalampi 6-8, Iraklio 712 02
Peskesi is the Cretan kitchen Heraklion gets judged by, rebuilding near-lost island recipes with produce grown on the restaurant's own farm.
Tip: Ask for the olive oil tasting. The kitchen is supplied by its own farm at Haraso, and the oils are poured alongside rusk.
Mavro Provato ★ 4.7 · Athens
pangrati · Arrianou 31-33, Pangrati
Mavro Provato in Pangrati Athens is the daily mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking, Greek wine by the glass and a sidewalk of regulars.
Tip: Book three days ahead for dinner; lunch tables on the pavement are walk-up after 14:00.
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani ★ 4.7 · Athens
psyrri · Sokratous & Evripidou 1, 10552, Athina
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani on Sokratous is the Athens deli-mezedopoleio for Asia Minor cured meats: Karamanli pastourma, sausages and small plates.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The deli counter runs 08:00-21:00 if you want to take meats home with you.
Delta Restaurant ★ 4.7 · Athens
kerameikos-metaxourgeio · 364 Syggrou Avenue, Kallithea, 176 74
Delta at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Athens-Kallithea holds two Michelin stars and a Green Star for fermentation-led Greek cooking.
Tip: Book a month ahead; the architecture is the warm-up so allow time for the foundation walk.
Merastri ★ 4.7 · Heraklion
Old Town · Chrisostomou 17, Iraklio 712 02
Merastri has cooked over a wood oven in Heraklion since 1998, closing lamb in the fire for hours and finishing pork fillet with staka and oven potatoes.
Tip: Dinner only from 18:00, and the courtyard tables go first at weekends. The Cretan list is worth an extra glass.
Merastri ★ 4.7 · Heraklion
Old Town · Chrisostomou 17, Iraklio 712 02
Merastri is the wood-oven address in Heraklion for an unhurried Cretan dinner, from lamb closed in the fire to a long list of island bottles.
Tip: Dinner only from 18:00, and the courtyard tables go first at weekends. The Cretan list is worth an extra glass.
Mourga ★ 4.7 · Thessaloniki
Christopoulou 12, Thessaloniki
Chef Giannis Loukakis's Ladadika restaurant operates at the creative edge of northern Greek cooking. Kitchen leans market-driven creative greek.
Charoupi ★ 4.7 · Thessaloniki
Doxis 4, Thessaloniki
Chef Manolis Papoutsakis opened Charoupi in 2017 to bring Cretan ingredients and technique to Thessaloniki. Kitchen leans cretan modernist. At Doxis 4.
Mourga ★ 4.7 · Thessaloniki
Christopoulou 12, Thessaloniki
Mourga straddles the boundary between casual and fine dining: handwritten menus, organic-market sourcing, and a kitchen with genuine creative ambition.
Karavitis Tavern ★ 4.6 · Athens
pangrati · Pausaniou 4 Pangrati, Athina 11635, Greece
Karavitis in Pangrati has cooked Athens taverna food since 1926, a rustic courtyard with barrels of house wine and the bekri-meze stew that defines the room.
Tip: No reservations are taken; arrive before 21:00 on weeknights and before 20:30 on Saturdays.
Hytra ★ 4.6 · Athens
kerameikos-metaxourgeio · Petrou Kokkali 1, Athina 115 21
Hytra at the Onassis Cultural Centre is one Michelin star for contemporary Greek cooking with a top-floor view across Athens to the Acropolis in warm weather.
Tip: The seventh-floor summer bar is a separate booking from the winter ground-floor dining room.
CTC Urban Gastronomy ★ 4.6 · Athens
kerameikos-metaxourgeio · 15 Plateon , Athina
CTC in Kerameikos is Alexandros Tsiotinis's one Michelin star for creative Greek cooking, in a converted post-industrial space west of central Athens.
Tip: The dining room is small and the kitchen seats are the best in the house, ask when booking.
Parasties ★ 4.6 · Heraklion
Old Town · Chandakos 81, Iraklio 712 02
Parasties runs an open wood fire opposite the Historical Museum in Heraklion, turning out smoked steak, big pork fillets and long-cooked Cretan plates.
Tip: Sit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Parasties ★ 4.6 · Heraklion
Old Town · Chandakos 81, Iraklio 712 02
Parasties has cooked Cretan food over live fire in the centre of Heraklion since 1999, and is one of the city's steadiest special-occasion rooms.
Tip: Sit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Olympos Naoussa ★ 4.6 · Thessaloniki
waterfront · Leoforos Nikis 5, Thessaloniki 546 24
Olympos Naoussa reopened in 2022 after thirty years in a 1926 building on Nikis Avenue. Located in Waterfront. Priced at €€€. Kitchen leans modern greek.
Olympos Naoussa ★ 4.6 · Thessaloniki
Leoforos Nikis 5, Thessaloniki 546 24
The 1926 waterfront landmark reopened in 2022 as one of the city's most ambitious restaurants under FNL-recognised chef Dimitris Tasioulas. Family-friendly.
Mavro Provato ★ 4.5 · Athens
pangrati · Arrianou 31-33, Pangrati
Mavro Provato in Pangrati is the daily Athens mezedopoleio favourite for small-plate Greek cooking with regulars on the pavement from 14:00.
Tip: Book three days ahead for dinner; lunch tables on the pavement are walk-up only from 14:00 onwards.
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani ★ 4.5 · Athens
psyrri · Sokratous & Evripidou 1, 10552, Athina
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani on Sokratous is the Athens deli-mezedopoleio for Asia Minor cured meats: Karamanli pastourma, sausages and small plates.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The deli counter runs 08:00-21:00 if you want to take meats home with you.
Diporto ★ 4.5 · Athens
psyrri · Sokratous 9, Athina 105 52
Diporto on Sokratous and Theatrou has poured Attic retsina from barrels in Athens since 1887, a basement koutouki with no sign and a handful of daily dishes.
Tip: Lunch only from late morning until the pans empty, often by 17:00; no menu, no English spoken.
Taverna tou Oikonomou ★ 4.5 · Athens
petralona · Kydantidon 32, Athina 118 51
Taverna tou Oikonomou in Ano Petralona is the Athens mageirio that has cooked home-style food since 1930, with 15 to 20 daily dishes brought out of the pan.
Tip: No microwave and no menu; you point at the trays. Closes when the pans run out, often by 22:00.
Soil ★ 4.5 · Athens
pangrati · 5 Ferekidou, Pangrati, 116 35
Soil in Pangrati is Tasos Mantis's one Michelin star plus Green Star for sustainable Greek cooking with Nordic discipline and a fully seasonal carte.
Tip: The Green Star menu skews vegetable-forward; flag allergies and preferences when booking.
Birdman ★ 4.5 · Athens
syntagma-historic-centre · Voulis 35, Athina
Birdman on Voulis is chef Ari Vezene's Japanese-Greek robata grill: a long open counter for yakitori, kushiyaki and dry-aged niku with Greek seafood.
Tip: Counter seats see the cooking; book a side seat for two and order across the menu.
The Walls ★ 4.5 · Heraklion
Old Town · Kosma Zotou 6, Iraklio 712 01
The Walls plates crab samosas, duck and sea bream in a garden inside the Venetian walls of Heraklion, the city's most composed modern Greek cooking.
Tip: The dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
Erganos ★ 4.5 · Heraklion
Old Town · Georgiadou 5, Iraklio 712 01
Erganos has fed a mostly local room beside Kazantzakis park in Heraklion since 1986, with goat, meatballs and a long list of Cretan vegetable plates.
Tip: The taverna sits beside Kazantzakis park, a short walk uphill from the Archaeological Museum.
Erganos ★ 4.5 · Heraklion
Old Town · Georgiadou 5, Iraklio 712 01
Erganos is the taverna Heraklion locals default to, a 1986 dining room beside Kazantzakis park with goat, keftedes and honeyed sfakianopites.
Tip: The taverna sits beside Kazantzakis park, a short walk uphill from the Archaeological Museum.
The Walls ★ 4.5 · Heraklion
Old Town · Kosma Zotou 6, Iraklio 712 01
The Walls is the most technical cooking in Heraklion, a garden dining room inside the Venetian ramparts, run as a modern Greek gastrobistro.
Tip: The dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
SinTrofi ★ 4.5 · Thessaloniki
ladadika · Doxis 7, Thessaloniki
SinTrofi's zero-waste philosophy shapes the kitchen and the cellar: the menu changes daily by season and market availability, and the wine list.
Mezen Salonica ★ 4.5 · Thessaloniki
ladadika · Rogoti 3, Thessaloniki
Mezen's never-ending philosophy: small plates arrive continuously until you signal otherwise. The tiny Rogoti Street location runs no reservations.